Although there’s been no official word from the club quite yet, Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho is expected to be ruled out for the next 3 to 4 weeks after scans on his hamstring supposedly came back worse than expected.
The Frenchman, who has suffered a rather extensive list of injury problems during his short time on Merseyside, had only just returned to action in the middle of December following a similar issue. Emre Can will be back from suspension in time for the visit of Newcastle United later today and Martin Skrtel is almost certain to be restored immediately to the starting eleven when we square off with Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final this weekend, but with the race for a top four spot still in motion, having Sakho sidelined yet again could prove far more costly than originally expected.
Liverpool’s chances of securing Champions League football for the second year on the bounce look dismal after defeats at the hands of Manchester United and Arsenal stopped their dramatic charge up the table in its tracks. A slow start to the campaign, coupled with injuries to a number of key players, have made this season hard going, but that’s something that Reds boss Brendan Rodgers will be looking to address in the off-season with not only Daniel Sturridge — the hardest hit of the lot — but the rest of the squad being handed personalized fitness programs.
“Every player’s different. With Daniel there’s been a number of injuries that he’s had and that’s before he came here. He had a fairly sustained run last season and served us well but this season has been difficult,” said the Reds boss after revealing that he doesn’t expected his star striker to be fully fit until next season. “All the players will get an individual programme designed for them and their needs over the summer and Daniel will be no different.”
